Fan-blower.



4 SHEETS-SHEET I- Patented Apr. 9, 1918..

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l. E. GREENAWALT.-

FAN BLOWER.'

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 8. ISIS.

1. GREENAWALT.

FAN BLOWER. f APPLlcATloN man Noma, |916. I

Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1. E. GnEENAwALT.

FANBLowEa. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1916.

Patented Apr. 9,1918.

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IIIII m" q I l. E. GREENAWALT. y

FAN BLOWER. v APPLICATION man Nov. s. 191e.

Patentedl Apr. 9; 1918.

4 SHEETSAHEET 4.

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` ATTORNEY.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE. 7

JOHN GREENAWALT, F NEW YORK, N. Y.'

To allwhom t 'may concern.

Be 1t known that I, JOHN E, GREENAWALT,

' a citizen of the 4United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fan-Blowers, of which thefollowingis a full, clear, and exact description," reference'being had to the `accompanying drawings, formmg a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in turbine fans and blowers; and'it consists in the novel features of construction more fully set forth in the specification and pointedout in the claims. l f

The present invention is directed lto turbine fans, compressors, blowers, or pumps of the centrifugal kktype for compressing or movin fluids such as air and gases, the object o the invention being to`provide effective ...means for converting the kinetic or velocity energy of the fluid as it leaves the impeller into' potential energy in the form of static pressure. In its generic contemplation this energy converter assumes the form of a diffusion ring interposed between the impeller and scroll chamber, said ring operating to conduct the fluidy from the impeller to the sides of said chamber. y The diffusion ring is not claimed broadly herein, the generic Aidea already forming the subject-"matter of a previous application for patent, led May12, 1915, Serial Number 27,574; and in so far' as the present invention maybe directed to the feature ofthe diffusion ring,'it is to be understood as being limited to the specific de tails by which said ring ischaracterized. The present invention is however not limited to the` structural details of the diffusion ring, but contemplates in addition the inclusion of all such features as are not part and parcel of the ring, said features in cooperation with the ring resulting in the present instance in an apparatus having a maximum efficiency; one which is comparatively free'from objectionable noise while running; one which yis simple, strong and durable,uni form in action, and one possessing further and other advantages betterapparent from the following detailed description of the invention in connection with the` accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a combined outsideY `and inside elevation of the outer casing of .they fan or blower, showing one-half of the -Specication of Letters Patent.

Application led November 8,1916. Serial No. 130,176.

diffusion ring and impeller in side elevation, parts of the impeller bein broken away; Fig. 2 is an end elevation o? Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical middle transverse section, parts beingleft Vin elevation;

the apparatus;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the annular diffusion tion through the impeller showing the detailed construction of one of the blades; Fig. 9 is a section parallel to the plane of rotation of the impeller on the zig-zag line 99 `of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional detail on the line 10-10 of- Fi 8; Fig. 11 is a sectional detail through t e inner side walls of the collecting scroll on the line 11-4-11 of Fig. 3,-withy partsA broken away; and Fig. 12 is a development of the diffusion ring.

Referring to the drawings,.C.represents the outer casing of thefan (or blower)- the sides of the casing being made sloping or inclined as shown, and provided on the out,n side with brackets or overhanging portions B by which the casing may be supported on suitable structural members D as shown. l

The casing is made in two sections separable along a central vertical longltudnal plane, each section being integral with the correy,spending section of the collecting scroll 1, which projects a suitablel distance above the .upper terminals of the inclined sides of the "casing, and extends downwardly between of the rotary impeller from which the currents are deliveredl into the chamber of the collecting scroll, said scroll being providedA with the usual eduction le E as well understood in the art. In t e pres- Y...ent embodiment of my invention the impeller comprises a central hub 2 formed with disk portion 3, and keyed to the shaft S,

a the latter passing through the sides of the vpower shaft S.

the outer reduced portion 3' of the disk arel casing and supported by suitable bearings 4 in the housings 5 mounted on the brackets B, one end of the shaft being provided with a coupling member P which is secured to a correspondingmember 1:"A of any motor or To the opposite faces of riveted angle plates 6, the transverse legs of which are riveted to the webs of the channel plates 7 which may be considered as the vblades of the impeller. The outer free ends t wardly slightly beyond the inner parallel vside walls' 10l leading from the annular ledges or seats 11 of the collecting scroll,

the said legs `passing loosely through said walls, and the blades 7 revolving freely between them. And desired number of blades may of course be provided depending on the .size and capacity of the fan. The manner of constructing the impeller and the blades thereof here described need not be adhered to, andany other suitable mechanical construction is contemplated under my present invention.

Resting on the annular ledges 11 within the scroll chamber is a ditfusion ring 12 the medial portion of which is .in the form of two truncated conical ,walls fw, fw, with the narrow ends intersecting at the center of the ring, the ridge r formed by the meeting of said walls being disposed close to the perilpheral sweep of the blades of the impeller.

' portions of the widths of said faces (Fig. 5)

e peripheral walls of the ring 12 on either side of the central rentrant angular portion formed by the walls fw, lw, are substantially cylindrical, the (inner faces of said cylinf drical portions being provided with a series of parallel ribs or vanes 13 spaced apart and inclined at a slight angle to the medial ridge 'r of the ring (or any line parallel thereto) and extending diagonallyV across the major the ribs directly engaging the ledges 11. The inner and outer ends of successive ribs overflap whereby suitable spiral eduction chanjL-nels or, passages va are formed (with the A f'ledgesflU{between the ribs, the inner termii nalsorl intakes of the several channels communiating with the chambers b, b. formed inv the. diffusion ring between the walls w, lw,

-.ribs '13 and periphery of the impeller.

These chambers b, b, will hereinafter be designatedaswhirlpool chambers, the currents .as they leave the periphery of the imV peller being initially pro]ected vinto Said chambers and then educted laterally therefrom by the channels or conduits la into -.the sides of the scroll chamber. While in the present embodiment of my invention there result two distinct whirlpool chambers by reason of the central rentrant angleformed the walls lw, w, it is obvious that by having a ring without the rentrant formation referred to, we would. have a single whirlpool chamber, substantially U-shaped in cross-section instead of two chambers each triangular in cross-section. In this connecd tion I desire it to be understood that I do not wish to limit myself to any particular form of cross-section of diffusion ring, so

-long as the same offers a whirlpool chamber (or chambers) into which the impeller may initially project its currents before the latter are conducted into the scroll chamber. The walls of the whirlpool chamber (or chambers) should in practice be sutliciently distanced from the peripheral sweep of the impeller to reduce the noise of impact of the currents against said walls to a minimum. In practice I find that a cross-section of dift fusion ring such as herein shown with two contiguous whirlpool chambers o, b, operates to reduce the impact and attendant noise to such an extent, that the fan even when running at a very high rate of speedf, is comparatively noiseless.

The operation is substantially as follows: Rotation being imparted to the impeller in the direction indicated by the ,arrows in Figs. 1 and 6, the `fluid (air, gas,) will be drawn through the opening O of the outer casing, intovthe chambers E, E, whence it" will flow ,through the rings 9, 9, toward the opposite faces of the disk 3, the Huid thence following along the blades of lthe impeller b-y which it is projected at high velocity into the whirlpool chambers (or chamber.) @of the stationary diffusion ring energy of the fluid thus projected vinto-the whirlpool chambers is converted 'into a.

fluid from the periphery of the impellerto the outlet of the scroll chamber, thachan" nels a being so disposed as to cause anV evenfVK diffusion of the .'luid by a lateral movement.. 4 ythereof after leaving the whirlpool cham.-

bers, the iluid .being finally discharged'from the sides of the diffusion ring linto ,thepscro chamber without material shock'or inpact and without the formation of reacting eddies. v-It may be stated in passing,.that' inf the operation ofthe blower the im elle is given a rotation in the directionindlcated by the Cited arrow in Fig. 11, that sto v 125;'jA

say, the 'impeller shouldrotate in a direction toward the converging ends of the chan-- vnels or ducts a `(or toward the converging ends ofthe ribs 13), to properly direct the currents as they leave the whir pool chambers, into and Athrough said' channels, the 13oi 12. The 'velocity 11,10 static pressure head in the passage of -the 'dust out of-the fan chamber.

Y fluid being finally discharged from the channels laterally into the sides of the scroll chamber. The apparatus as shown is used as an exhaust fan in ore sintermg plants, a4

suitable casting (not shown) bein bolted to the bottom ange h of the caslng, the pipes leading from the sintering pan being bolted to this casting. Of course the apparatus may be used as a blower, in which event a suitable screen can be bolted to the ange h across the opening O to keep the The design of ap aratus here shown need not of course be ad ered to whether used as an exhauster or blower, and the same may be changed' to suit local conditions as will be quite apparent to the skilled mechanic.

The diffusion ring here shown (or its equivalent) `is not restricted in its applica tion to apparatus dealing with elastic fluids on the order of air or gases, that is to say appa-ratus such as fans, blowers, exhausters and the like, it being within the contempla-I tion of my invention to utilize said ring in connection with centrifu al pumps operating on water, oil and `otlgier inelastic fluids or liquids; and I desire it to be understood that the diffusion ring ma enteras an ele`l ment in any apparatus eit er pneumatic or hydraulic where it can discharge the several functions or any of 'them attributed thereto in the resent construction.

Inillusion rings constructed as yhere shown, the inclined walls 10,10, meeting at the ridge r serve to initially direct the currents leaving the impeller, into the whirlpool chambers b, b, such direction being lateral of course, the conduits a subsequently completingthe lateral diffusion by discharging the currents through the sides of the ring into the scroll chamber, thereforethat thelateral diifusion of the fluid begins the very moment it leaves the outer terminals of the impeller blades.

Preferably, the diiusion ring' is made in tv vo sections with' suitable provision for umting the same asshownfinFi-gs 4 and 5, an expedient well'unders'to'odin the art.

Having described my "invention what 1 i metrically about afmedialV line to initially receive the 4currents delivered thereto, in combination with means for subsequently eeeting a lateral diffusion of said currents. 3. In an apparatus of the character de. scribed, the combination of a suitable im eller, .a colleetin scroll a rin inter osed tween the impeller and scrol and c am- It follows scribed, a diffusion ring provided with an` `inner chamber divided lnto two contiguous sections disposed on opposite sides of a center line of the ring, and means leading from said chamber sections for conducting the currents therefrom through the sides of the r1ng.

6. In an apparatus of the character de scribed, a diffusion rin formed with a central rentrant angular ormation, and means on the inside of the ring on either side of the rentrant formation for laterally diffus ing the currents accumulating at said :formaT tion.

7. In an apparatus of the character described, a cylindrical diffusion ring formed with a central rentrant angular portion substantially V-shaped in cross-section, and

ducts disposed on the'inside of the ring on either side of the rentrant portion, said ducts discharging through the sides of the ring. 8. scribed, the/combination of a suitable impeller, a collecting scroll, and a laterally diffusin member provided with a whirlpool cham er, interposed between the impeller andscroll for discharging the currents into the scroll chamber.

l `9. In an apparatus of the character described, a diffusion ringhaving a medial portion formed of two truncated cones with Vthe narrow ends intersecting at the center of In an apparatus of the character de the ring, and cylindricalportions leading from the-bases of the respective truncated cones, and suitable Huid leductors disposed on the inner faces of the cylindrical portions operating to dschargethe Huid at the sides of the ring. n

10. In an apparatus of the character de scribed, the combination .of a suitable impeller, a collecting scroll, a stationary whirlpool chamber maintained between the-'impeller and scroll. chamber, and means for l conducting the currents lfrom the whirlpool chamber into the scroll chamber.

11. In an apparatus of the'character described, the combination of a rotary vimpeller, a collectin scroll, a member surrounding the `impe ler and forming a whirlpool chamber at points beyond the periph,

ery of the impeller, and means for conduct-l ing the currents from the whirlpool chamber into the scroll chamber.

12. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a rotary impeller, a collecting scroll, a member surroundpeller, a collecting scroll, a whirlpool chamber maintained about the impeller and initially receiving the currents therefrom, suitable formationsin the' whirlpool chamber for directing the currents to the sides of the chamber, and means for conducting said laterally directed currents from the Whirlpool chamber to the scroll. chamber.

14. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a suitable impeller, a collecting scroll, and a di'usionring interposed between said scroll and impeller,

said ring being chambered symmetrically about a medial .line for the whirlpooling of thmi:1 currents delivered thereto by the impe er.

15. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a suitable impeller, a coperating diffusion member provided with means for effecting an initial lateral diffusion of the iiuid leaving the impeller, and independent means for completing said lateral diffusion.

16. In an apparatus of the character de'-y scribed, the combination of a suitable impeller, a coperatin diffusion ring provided with means for e ecting an initial lateral diffusion of the fluid leaving the impeller, and independent means for completing said lateral diffusion.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature,

in presence of two witnesses.

JOI-IN E. GREENAWALT.

I Witnesses:

M. M, MURPHY DREW, LILLIAN FRIED.

It is hereby certied that in Letters Patent No. 1,261,807, granted April 9, 1918, upon the applicationf'of John E. Greenawalt, of New York, N. Y., for an improvement. in Fan-Blowers, an error appear in the printed spocioation requiring correction as follows: v Page 3, lineY 52, claim l, for the word "chamber" read chambered; andthat the aid Letters Patent should bo read with this correction therein' that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflca.

i Signed and sealed this 21st day of January A. D., 1919.

F. W. H. CLAY, Acting C'ommieiner of Patents.

[SEAL] 

